Content

Sleep science, eye disease, and mental health

Summary

In this short video, Oxford University Professor Russell Foster explains that his new findings in neuroscience show that lack of adequate sleep is not just an inconvenience. Sustained sleep disruption or deprivation can now be seen as an early warning system (biomarker) of impending mental illness.

His findings overturn our current ‘knowledge’ that blindness is always associated with a broken sleep/wake circadian system. In fact, our eyes are able to sense light without seeing it. He also discusses how these findings have significant implications for future therapies.

Summary

In this short video, Oxford University Professor Russell Foster explains that his new findings in neuroscience show that lack of adequate sleep is not just an inconvenience. Sustained sleep disruption or deprivation can now be seen as an early warning system (biomarker) of impending mental illness.

His findings overturn our current ‘knowledge’ that blindness is always associated with a broken sleep/wake circadian system. In fact, our eyes are able to sense light without seeing it. He also discusses how these findings have significant implications for future therapies.

Video

Sleep is still in many regards a mystery for scientists. However, Professor Russell Foster, who spoke at WIRED Health, is working in new areas of neuroscience that are finding links between our sleep cycles and the state of our mental health, which could drastically change the way we think about sleep.